Would you give it a shot?

[Nowler]

Hey folks!

Just got off the phone to a "Senior Trader" at London Trading Institute (oddly enough both people I spoke to were American, but phoned from a UK number).
After speaking to them, this is what I have.

- While I can purchase some training from them, I do not need to.
- In order to get access to a 10k account, I need to pay £400, make 10% on a $2,500 in no less than 40 trades but within 6 months (adhering to an individual trade risk of <1.5%)
- There is a strict risk management rule on the 10k account, where if I hit 4-5% drawdown, I'm out... lose access to the account... poof...gone!
- The 6 month period only applies to the "qualification phase" which tests me on a 2.5k account before moving on to the "Qualified" 10k account
- I can only trade FX, and can hold positions over night (forgot to ask if I could hold over the weekend)
- Every time I reach 10% growth, they double my account size
- I trade remotely (MT4)

I am still quite skeptical of course, but I am wondering if I should give it a shot...
It's £400 risk for me, which isnt a huge amount, but I'd like to hear any input from you guys.
It's proving quite difficult for me to get an opportunity with a prop firm willing to pay me a basic wage, one that will train me in-house, so I am now thinking that maybe this is the only way for me to trade a 10k+ account (without just saving the 10k up myself).

Clearly I am not quitting my day job on a 10k account (split the profits 50/50).
Thankfully I can hold positions overnight, so I could make a swing trade strategy work, and continue with a day job.

What do you think?

 

[Nowler]

Just to add:
I realize the math is not looking very favorable.
If I make 17.4k/year in my current day job, then in order to match that through this, I would have to make 34.8k/year (50/50 split of profits).

That would be the equivalent of 10% annual growth on a 340k account/ 20% annual growth on a 170k account/roughly 50% annual growth on a 80k account...

I am looking to hear from you lot to see if I am being unreasonable by being so skeptical

 

[Panic!]

I wouldn't, based on your own math.

 

[Nowler]

Thanks for the response.

I guess the most important question I need to answer is whether it's legitimate, albeit a bit of a mountain to climb.
Either they take my £400 and I never hear from them again, or they stay true to what they said and I am afforded an opportunity to achieve the task of making 10% in no more than 6 months on the evaluation/qualification account of £2,500.

If I successfully make it past the first hurdle of legitimacy, then the second is whether I can make 10% in 6 months of swing trading FX. Fall at this hurdle and the game is over. Pass it, and I move onto a 10k account (which still isn't going to pay my bills) which has no time restrictions. All I have to do from this point onward is to avoid a drawdown of 4% (or the game is over), and reach targets of 10% growth (to double my account size). Make 10% 4 times and it's an 80k account... do it once more and it's a 160k account.

After the legitimacy hurdle, it comes down to how realistic it is to make 10% in 6 months without going into 4% drawdown...

 

[Panic!]

Is your priority getting funded or getting the training?

If I were you I would ask them to put me in touch with someone who did this while maintaining a fulltime job, and ask him/her about the experience. If they can't/won't do it, I would walk away.

 

[SteamRoller]

If you were confident you could make the profits you describe, then I think you'd be better off borrowing a bit of money and trading it up. After all, if you were trading a 10K account, and you kept your £400 and didn't pay it to them, you'd have covered a 4% draw down anyway, in comparison with having started by paying away £400. Just a thought.

 

[Nowler]

My priority in this situation is getting funded (but I would love some mentoring).
Ive seen the cost of their training, and im not convinced that it's worth the cost for me considering ive been studying/practicing this for about 2 years already. I'm sure I could learn at least something from them, but is it worth a few thousand? Probably not for me since I've been reading and listening to dozens of audio-books from successful traders/investors (including ones on trading psychology and risk management).

A good shout from you though...
Speaking to someone who did it under similar circumstances to myself would be very encouraging. But then there's the issue of truly knowing whether they are truthful, or whether it's his buddy leading me down the garden path

When he send me the info he's supposed to email, I'll ask to speak to such a person.

In regards, to what SteamRoller said:
That is certainly an option, but the borrowing of similar capital would be problematic for me.
Sure... I could fund a 1-2k account myself, but growing that to 50, 80, 160k is a big ask.
I could borrow 10k, but even growing that to such heights would be very difficult. Not to forget the fact that I am now risking money which is borrowed, and would take me ages to pay back in the event I lost it.

If they were legit, and I am not liable for losses (apart from the initial £400 investment plus time) then risk is dramatically reduced.
And unlike funding my own account, this account doubles every time I make 10% (to a cap of 1.2M or something like that).

 

[Nowler]

Yeah...
I'll give it a miss.
Just doesn't add up

 

[hatemypips]

Hey folks!

Just got off the phone to a "Senior Trader" at London Trading Institute (oddly enough both people I spoke to were American, but phoned from a UK number).
After speaking to them, this is what I have.

- While I can purchase some training from them, I do not need to.
- In order to get access to a 10k account, I need to pay £400, make 10% on a $2,500 in no less than 40 trades but within 6 months (adhering to an individual trade risk of <1.5%)
- There is a strict risk management rule on the 10k account, where if I hit 4-5% drawdown, I'm out... lose access to the account... poof...gone!
- The 6 month period only applies to the "qualification phase" which tests me on a 2.5k account before moving on to the "Qualified" 10k account
- I can only trade FX, and can hold positions over night (forgot to ask if I could hold over the weekend)
- Every time I reach 10% growth, they double my account size
- I trade remotely (MT4)

I am still quite skeptical of course, but I am wondering if I should give it a shot...
It's £400 risk for me, which isnt a huge amount, but I'd like to hear any input from you guys.
It's proving quite difficult for me to get an opportunity with a prop firm willing to pay me a basic wage, one that will train me in-house, so I am now thinking that maybe this is the only way for me to trade a 10k+ account (without just saving the 10k up myself).

Clearly I am not quitting my day job on a 10k account (split the profits 50/50).
Thankfully I can hold positions overnight, so I could make a swing trade strategy work, and continue with a day job.

What do you think?

Sounds like a scam. Are you sure you will be trading real money and it's not fake live account. What's the broker name and did you conduct proper research about their business and reputation?

 

[Nowler]

Sounds like a scam. Are you sure you will be trading real money and it's not fake live account. What's the broker name and did you conduct proper research about their business and reputation?

Sounds fairly scammy alright.
I knew it didnt sound right, I just wanted to get the input from a few of you on whether I was being too skeptical.

Their restrictions are too tight also, which screams "stay away".

I've decided not to pursue it.

 

[hatemypips]

Taking into account that they advertise this offer heavily..they are definitely not interested in making you rich rather than filling their own pockets.

 

[tracydavison]

great thread its a very interesting read